Steve
Boak

I’m a product design & technology leader in the Bay Area looking to build and grow world-class teams and products. I have deep experience in SaaS, enterprise software and tools. I’ve built design teams, products, and companies from the ground up that have generated billions of dollars in revenue. In a former life I worked for some of the world’s best architects.

Experience

  • Datadog • VP, Product Design (2016–2025)

    9-year tenure, 6 years as VP and head of the Product Design department.

    • Grew the Product Design department from 5 to 150 people
    • Launched 25+ products, collectively generating $2B+ in ARR, and helped expand the platform into new categories like Security and Generative AI
    • Developed and evolved the team’s structure, culture, interview processes and levels to hire and grow talented designers
    • Created and led the Design Operations team, made up of both engineers and designers, to develop systems, tools and processes to scale the Design function

  • Opsee • CPO & Co-founder (2015–2016)

    • Hired the team, raised capital, and defined the company vision
    • Developed product strategy, prioritization, and planning
    • User research, customer interviews, and usage analytics
    • UX, visual and interaction design, and some front-end development
    • Marketing site & assets, including the Opsee logo and marketing video

  • Don’t Make Me Code • Co-host (2015–2016)

    A podcast about Developer Experience (DX) Design.

    • One of the most popular podcasts in the Heavybit network
    • Interviewed over a dozen leading design and engineering professionals
    • Helped build awareness of DX and promote design in the dev tools space

  • Opsmatic (acq. by New Relic) • Product & Design (2013–2015)

    I led product development and strategy from the first prototype, and brought the product to market with dozens of paying customers. I was responsible for:

    • User research, interviews and usage data analysis, and product requirements
    • UX, visual and interaction design
    • The Opsmatic logo, marketing site, and marketing assets

  • Boundary (acq. by BMC) • Design Lead (2011–2013)

    I led the design of the Boundary product, growing it from its first prototypes to over 100 customers and a team of over 50 people, including 3 designers. I was responsible for:

    • Creating the award-winning Boundary logo
    • UX, visual and interaction design of the web interface
    • Interactive prototypes and mockups used for feature definition
    • Front-end development in HTML/CSS/JS

Contact

Talks

Writing